Sweetwater Pioneers
by Trisky
Summary: At the stroke of midnight in Japan, {Novasphere Pioneers} was released globally. Thousands of players suddenly found themselves living in the reality that was {Elder Tales}. These are the stories of {Adventurers} in and around the city of {Sweetwater} (Miami, Florida, United States). OCs only. Each published chapter is about 1k, but part of a larger story chapter. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

Elder Tales, Log Horizon and various characters, items, locations and other specific story elements belong to Mamare Touno. The majority of characters, events, and things in this story belong to me. Any similarity between characters and whatever else in the universe we actually live in is either a complete coincidence or I jacked it off of someone else... keep in mind it's all just a work of fiction anyways.

Additionally, I am always open to reviews, except when I'm not.

**Wednesday, May 02, 2018**

**10:59 AM Eastern Standard Time**

Outside Miami, Florida, it was hot and muggy. It rained during the night previous leaving the freshly cut grass of the suburban nightmare smelling sweet and tolerable.

But for a few true nerds last night's rain was all the confirmation they needed to stay in and gear up for the release of {Elder Tales}'s 12th expansion: {Pioneering the Novasphere}.

There was a moment of anxious anticipation for the expected message announcing the formal launch of the expansion. And then-


	2. Chapter 1: Paraphernalia, Part 1

**Name:** Potatoe  
**Race:** Werecat  
**Gender:** Male  
**Height:** 138 cm

**Class:** Monk  
**Level:** 71  
**Subclass:** Sailor  
**Level:** 83  
**HP:** 10125  
**MP:** 3062

**Affiliation:** Sniper Game Associates  
**Base of Operations:** Sweetwater (Miami, Florida), South/Central American Server; Paraphernalia (Ship)

**Notable Equipment:**  
Item 1: **{Burlap and Rope Trousers}**  
A simple burlap sack that has been repurposed with some rope as pants. It is one of the lowest level production items.  
Item 2: **{False Tail}**  
A production class item that was popular with Werecat players. It matches the player's avatar and raises evasion incrementally, but will break easily in battle.  
Item 3: **{Combat Sigils}**  
Inscribed by the level 90 Sigilmancer, Unpicturesque, they provide conditional stat modifiers as well as dye Potatoe's fur black in unique designs.

**Wednesday, May 02, 2018**

**11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time**

**Midnight in {Elder Tales}**

There was a painful crunching noise. Something fell and - no, someone fell from above in the darkness.

Suddenly, the environment became barely visible. It was a ninja who fell down. He fell onto the deck all the way from the top of the mast.

...

"Wah!" Potatoe shreeked and then stumbled back. Was this person going to kill him? Then he looked at where his hands were supposed to be and screamed again. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" They were paws.

"Ugh." The ninja tried moving, but was reeling from the fall and the strangeness of everything. "What the f-"

The ninja looked over the starboard - of the ship he had just realized he was now on - and froze.

Potatoe had already stopped screaming after seeing it as well.

Just beyond the ship in the light of the moon was a giant fish monster thing. It had a nameplate that read {Sahuagin Mother}.

The teeth were the first thing Potatoe saw followed by its vacant fish eyes. Its blue body was covered with shining green and purple scales. But all this was detail compared to the gang of {Sahuagin} that were climbing onto the ship with frightening speed.

The annoying ugly fish goblins that Potatoe had previously thought little of were now scary annoying ugly fish goblins. He got up and tried to throw himself at the nearest {Sahuagin} and fell on his face with his first step.

Then he fully realized what he was. He had been playing on his second account on {Elder Tales}. He was now a four and a half foot brown bipedal cat. "Today is going to suck hairballs."

Then he heard the explosion.

And a female voice called out, "Fuckin' get up and fight!"

"That must be Help and the ninja has gotta be Buzzkill." Potatoe thought to himself.

He leapt up onto his feet with more ease than expected and saw the fish goblin things headed out of a cloud of soot to the bow where Help was standing and looking very angry.

Buzzkill stabbed his assassin blade with all his weight into the eye of one of the monsters causing it to shatter into a myriad of shining particles and gold pieces. Its sudden disappearance caused him to lose balance and fall over.

But there were still five others going after Help. But she didn't seem to care so much about them as she did for Buzzkill's and Potatoe's plight. "LOOK OUT!" She shouted seconds too late for Buzzkill.

The {Sahuagin Mother} wasn't sitting idly by just to watch her babies - whom only she could love - die at the hands of her would-be-midnight-snack. She had used an area of effect {AoE} breath attack, giving Buzzkill the {Choking} debuff for as long as the breath stayed on deck.

Potatoe had dodged it just in time to circle around the mast and run to where Help was standing undefended. "The heck!?"

"Like I know!" She replied.

The approaching {Sahuagin} brandished their spears and tridents before charging in. Instinctively, Potatoe grabbed at the first weapon to reach him and began to struggle over it. The other four {Sahuagin} passed right by him and nearly cornered Help.

"Fuck you, pussy! Use one of your fucking abilities!" At this point she was ready to blame her death on Potatoe rather than the sudden apocalyptic change that the three of them had undergone.

"How-" He was able to wrestle the spear out of the creature's hands, "the-" strike it in the belly with its tip, "heck" it burst into a thousand particles, "do I do that!?"

Buzzkill pulled his purple face out of the mist of bad breath by grabbing hold of the mast. He took a large breath, "HO GAWD!"

"Like. Fucking. THIS!" Help screamed the last part by throwing a potion at the four remaining {Sahuagin} causing a small explosion. The four fish goblin monster things shattered and disintegrated into sparkles.

"What?" Potatoe was still confused by what Help was trying to say.

Help walked through the soot cloud left by her potion and towards Potatoe saying, "Fucking think 'Open Status Screen' and fucking read it. If my screen said that I had an ability called 'Kick A Fucking Cat Overboard' I'd do it right now!"

"Uh, guys..." interrupted Buzzkill, "I think your forgetting the giant enraged sea monster off the starboard." He then collapsed back into the stench-mist giving him the {Choking} debuff again - much to his chagrin.

The {Sahuagin Mother} had lunged forward to - what seemed like - take a bite out of the ship itself.

"Fuck." said Help.

Potatoe dropped his spear and ran to the helm of the ship hoping to find a status screen for the ship. (Before the sudden change... of everything... he had been given captain permissions for the ship, so he figured there'd be a chance he could get the ship to sail away and escape.) But, the menu was a bit more complex than he could grasp given the circumstances.

Instead he quickly looked over his combat abilities and read them with strong familiarity. Then an idea rung through his head.

While Help cast an {AoE} {Protection Totem} on the starboard deck, Potatoe immediately leapt to where Buzzkill was suffocating and picked him up. The stench-mist came all the way up to Potatoe's neck yet the body of his teammate was easy to lift.

With one hand holding Buzzkill - who was a giant in comparison - and the other digging into the ship mast, Potatoe pulled and climbed all the way to the top of the main sail.

"What the fuck are you doing?" asked Help as he was on his way up.

"What the hell ARE you doing?" asked Buzzkill now that his {Choking} debuff was gone.

"Shot the blasted thing from here while I try to pull its aggro!"

"That I can understand!"

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!" shouted Help.

Then the ship rocked from the {Sahuagin Mother} attempting to bite through the totem Help had put up earlier. Buzzkill held fast to the mast to avoid losing his balance, but Potatoe leapt from it to take the opportunity to land some bonus unarmed damage on the beast of a mother.

"Wait," trapped and still confused by what was going on, Buzzkill called down, "how do I open my inventory!?"

"FUCK YOU!" shouted Help.


	3. Chapter 1: Paraphernalia, Part 2

**Name:** Buzzkill  
**Race:** Wolf Fang  
**Gender:** Male  
**Height:** 155

**Class:** Assassin  
**Level:** 44  
**Subclass:** Sailor  
**Level:** 27  
**HP:** 4006  
**MP:** 4135

**Affiliation:** Sniper Game Associates  
**Base of Operations:** Sweetwater (Miami, Florida), South/Central American Server; Paraphernalia (Ship)

**Notable Equipment:**  
Item 1: **{Poisoned Death}**  
An production-class assassin blade that was gifted to Buzzkill by Que upon joining Sniper Game Associates. It was crafted with the poison gland from a jellyfish monster.  
Item 2: **{Football Helmet Key Fob}**  
Buzzkill is a diehard fan of his favorite football team, so he keeps a mini Gator helmet so show off his pride.  
Item 3: **{Sniper's Bow}**  
Although only equipable by select classes, it is used as the symbol for the guild Sniper Game Associates. This too was given to Buzzkill by Que.

* * *

With the {Sahuagin Mother} defeated, Buzzkill gained a level. The "level gained" chime sounded in his ears so he called up his status menu with a thought. He read through it with an interest in everything he saw. Name: Buzzkill. Race: Wolf Fang. Level: the number 44 bounced around in an attempt to get his attention.

He carefully reached out to activate the level up bonus and fanfare sounded loudly in his head. He cringed a little. His bonus stats were awarded to him, increasing his HP and MP. But he was still two levels away from his next skill unlock. But what did that even matter?

Meanwhile, Help had calmed down and started talking to Potatoe. "I'm sorry for losing it back there. I just felt that if any of us were going to die, I'd prefer that it'd be the two of you and at my own hands and not by some giant piece of sushi."

"Heh. Well, you had signed on to be the team guard-"

"The fuck. I didn't sign up for this!? What the fucking hell has happened!? The fucking logout button won't even fucking work."

Help walked to the back of the ship to clear her mind of all murderous thoughts about Potatoe.

Buzzkill looked over his inventory, scrolling through it with his finger. When Help walked past him he looked closer at who they had become.

Potatoe was hardly more than an over sized brown cat. His fur matched his burlap pants making him look like a fuzzy potato, leaving no question as to why he chose his name. There was a very noticeable black skull dyed into his fur on his belly and a few other black marks on his hands a feet. Aside from this and the occasional tail he'd wear, Potatoe was practically naked to his increase unarmored and unarmed combat bonuses as a monk.

Help was an uncommon sight on the {South/Central American Server}. She was a human of the Medicineman class. Of course she hailed from the {North American Server}. In fact both Buzzkill and Help had originally created their characters there and moved servers for several reasons.

Help wore cloth armor designed to match some of the caricatures of the Plains Indians from the States. Her headdress covered her face and mouth with a golden beak and was decorated with red feathers and golden beads to symbolize the legendary Phoenix. As a healer class, she had some very powerful items. The fact that she could throw explosives during combat as a party healer without incurring combat penalties was evidence enough of this.

Buzzkill looked at his hands. They were hairy, itchy, and uncomfortable. It was bad enough that they normally felt that way, but now... it was multiplied a hundred fold.

He made his way below deck. There was actually a below deck! Previously in the game, ships didn't have an accessible below deck. The game's combat engines for the server couldn't simulate the effects of a ship sinking with players below decks effectively, so the decision was made to avoid it altogether.

It was cramped and small. The ship was a sloop after all - one of the smallest ships available for player purchase and use. But, they were the fastest if they sailed with the wind.

Buzzkill looked into one of the three barrels under the deck. It was filled with water. He tried to analyze his reflection, but it was just too dark to get anything but his silhouette and one annoying realization. His hair had been buzzed off since character creation leaving just enough left for his wolf ears to not look out of place.

His hair was bright blue and that annoyed the heck out of him. "I look like a fricking furry."

* * *

"We need to get back to {Sweetwater} right now. So get us the fuck back now!"

Potatoe took the helm using his {Captain} ability from his {Sailor} subclass. He was able to use {Astral Navigator} ability to point them back in the direction {Sweetwater}. He wasn't really sure how he was doing it and certainly not sure if he was actually succeeding. But, he kept this fear to himself.

Buzzkill stood at the bow looking with awe at the night sky. So many stars. They seemed to be clustered in a milky line above. "Ah," he thought to himself, "That's why they call it the Milky Way! Wow I'm stupid..." He blushed at this embarrassing realization.

It had only been a few hours since their near death scrape and now the ship was finally quiet. No attacks. No death threats. Nothing.

Nothing, but an uncomfortable silence and the strange feeling that Help was right behind him.

"You like it?"

"EH!?" Buzzkill jumped in place.

"Have you seen it before? The night sky when it's not drowned out by city lights?" Help was asking him seriously.

"Y-yeah, sure I have!"

"You probably misunderstand me. Where do you live?"

"What? Is this an A/S/L thing that you guys like to troll with or-"

"No. I'm serious. And it ain't like I'm gonna hunt you down in your home or anything. I'm trying to ask, do you like live in or near a city?"

"Yeah. I live in Atlanta... at least that's where I used to live? I dunno."

"Yeah-yeah-yeah. You've probably never seen the night sky without a city's light pollution. It's not surprising for most people." Help was being genuinely nice for a change.

"Light pollution?"

"You know how the street lights in a city turn on at night? They drown out the night sky. When I've gone to the valley, all I could ever see would be a dark blanket of a brownish red and maybe if I tried really hard I could see the moon... okay that's a slight exaggeration, but you get the point?"

"Yeah." Buzzkill paused for a beat, "Where do - did you live?"

"In Flagstaff, Arizona. I'm a college student. At least I hope I still am. I was about to graduate."

"Yo, you guys talking about something important?" interjected Potatoe standing beside them.

"Get- BACK TO THE FUCKING HELM!" Help grabbed hold of Potatoe's false tail and dragged him back in a huff.

"Why doesn't Buzz do it? He's got the sailor subclass too~"

But, it was no use. Help had him in a death hold and continued shouting profanities, threatening him with death if he didn't get them back safely.


	4. Chapter 1: Paraphernalia, Part 3

**Name:** Help "The Bomberlady"  
**Race:** Human  
**Gender:** Female  
**Height:** 155

**Class:** Medicine(wo)man  
**Level:** 90  
**Subclass:** Pharmacist  
**Level:** 90  
**HP:** 9288  
**MP:** 9101

**Affiliation:** Sniper Game Associates  
**Base of Operations:** Sweetwater (Miami, Florida), South/Central American Server; Paraphernalia (Ship)

**Notable Equipment:  
**Item 1: **{Ritual Mask}  
**An ornately decorated mask that depicts a phoenix. It's an phantasmal-class item from a special event raid in the North American Server.  
Item 2: **{Gloves of Molotov}  
**These thin black gloves sport the striking feature of having pointed metal wires at the tips of the fingers. They are notable for granting the wearer the ability to cause a splash effect for thrown potions.  
Item 3: **{Smoke Feather}  
**An artifact-class item that can only be used when crafting items with the Pharmacist class. There is a random chance that the crafted item will become dangerously explosive.

* * *

The outline of towers pierced the western horizon. Behind them the sun began to drag itself into the sky and free from the ocean. The towers of {Sweetwater} reflected the light almost like mirrors even from the great distance. It looked like a city of lighthouses, dancing under the red glow of sunrise trying to ward the three of them off and away from danger.

They kept on their bearing, but it was surreal.

As they made their approach, the sun had finally pushed the last winks of night far beyond the western horizon. {Sweetwater} sprawled across the landscape, metal spires reached up and out as if trying to escape the city they were rooted in. And there was smoke.

Smoke was flooding upwards into the clouds.

The city was on fire.

"Holy Shite!" Buzzkill called from above.

"What is it?" called back Potatoe.

"The shore is on fire!"

{Sweetwater} was notable for the fact that it wasn't designed to follow the appearance of Miami, the city it was modeled after. Instead of being a concrete jungle surrounded on three sides by a suburban labyrinth and on the forth by a beach crammed with mostly naked human bodies like Miami usually was, it was a city of steel structures and flourishing lagoons protected from the ocean by a host of mangroves.

And now those mangroves were ablaze.

* * *

Over two dozen ships were sailing away from {Sweetwater} in a hurried fashion. Players from all combinations of guilds were occupying ships locked in a dead race to escape the city.

Every class of ship was being utilized in this effort. Everything between Frigate class and Rowboats were in the ocean currents.

"What the hell happened?" Help yelled out at the first ship they passed - another sloop.

The crowd on it all tried shouting back, but the only comprehensible words in the commotion were "Turn" and "Back."

Potatoe brought the ship to a slow crawl, but the other sloop kept on its speed and course and passed them by. It passed just far enough away that she couldn't make out the name written on the side of the ship.

The next ship - a yacht carrying two players - approached at a gentle pace and the two ships came to rest near each other. The passenger of the yacht came forward to speak with Help. He was dressed in a black and red tuxedo and held an equally sharp looking and matching guitar. The yacht carried the name: {Bracket Beauty}.

His name was Ambassador Vlad and he was a level 90 Bard and his nameplate read that he was a member of the Von Vampire guild.

And he was kind of on fire.

Not in a human-fireball kind of way, but more like roughed around the edges by burns that were still smoking. He called out.

"Hey-yoh! Do you guys have healing potions?"

"Just a few," replied Help, "We WERE trying to do a quest or two to help one of our own level grind, but that didn't go so well."

"Yah, you don't really want tah go intah dah city do yah?" He licked his teeth visibly, revealing fangs. His subclass was a little too obvious, he was a Vampire, also level 90. He had caught fire from the morning light and it was slowly licking away his health. If he could get under some shelter where there was no direct sunlight, he could start regenerating some HP, but at this rate he was in no immediate danger of dying.

"Yuck, sorry, I'm not used to talking yet." he apologized.

Unphased by the increasing strangeness of this world, Help asked, "What's going in the city?"

"Someone had a Fire Elemental summon that started attacking another player near where we were. There were these {Royal Guard} NPCs that appeared and immediately detained the player, but his summon already started the fire. It spread quickly after the NPCs disappeared, but it looked like it wasn't going to be a problem. Turns out we were wrong."

"Why didn't anyone fucking put it out with water summons or sorcery spells?"

"Hardly anyone could figure out their menu screens before the fire really got going and spread across at least four miles..." Ambassador Vlad rubbed his empty smoldering hand against the back of his ash dusted head, "I mean, I only figured out how to use mine after we got on Brackbeard's Yacht."

He motioned to the yacht captain. Name: Brackbeard. Class: Pirate, level 90. Guild: Von Vampire. He had an evil, yet pained grin plastered across his face. His beard was beginning to curl from the flames and smoke that was issuing out of it. He too had the vampire subclass, but he had less than half of his health left and the pain of being actively on fire was getting to be visibly obvious.

But he remained quiet.

"What's up with him?"

"Oh, he's the reason I asked for health potions."

At this, Help cast {Health Totem} on their ship just near enough to Brackbeard so that he began to regain some of the health that he had lost. It glowed a comfortable warm shade of pink, but it didn't change the look on his face though.

"Thanks." he gasped.

"That was greatly needed, thank you." then Ambassador Vlad added graciously, "I'm willing to bet that none of you have any rations on you because you didn't need any when you logged in. We don't have any ourselves because we only purchased as much as we needed and just so you know, food tastes like mushy cracker shit now."


	5. Chapter 1: Paraphernalia, Part 4

**Name:** Ambassador Vlad  
**Race:** Human  
**Gender:** Male  
**Height:** 180 cm

**Class:** Bard  
**Level:** 90  
**Subclass:** Vampire  
**Level:** 90  
**HP:** 9422  
**MP:** 8750

**Affiliation:** Von Vampire  
**Base of Operations:** Sweetwater (Miami, Florida), South/Central American Server; Bracket Beauty (Ship)

**Notable Equipment:**  
Item 1: **{Sharp Suit}**  
Originally part of his roleplay costume, he wore it for so long that his guildmates assumed that when he wasn't wearing it that he was trying to hide.  
Item 2: **{Haunting Strings}**  
A black Warlock Guitar designed with blood stains on its neck. Although it is classed as a Musical Instrument, a player can wield it like a club to absorb HP from opponents.  
Item 3: **{Badge of Pooled Blood}**  
An item that was released around the same time as the Vampire subclass in the [South/Central American Server]. It makes vampyric themed abilities cost HP instead of MP.

* * *

While Help and Ambassador Vlad were greeting each other a strange and oddly cheerful ringing sounded in Buzzkill's ear. His status menu opened up in front of him. A couple large buttons popped up on the display.

Call from Sibbs. Answer/Decline.

He looked up at the burning city and thought, "Oh no..." He answered the call.

"Crap man, where the heck are you!?" sounded Sibbs's voice in Buzzkill's head.

"So this is how the telepathy private message system works?"

"Dude, no really, where are you? Are you safe?"

"Yeah, I'm on the ship and I'm staring at {Sweetwater}. That's some nasty smoke."

"Dude, I'm trapped in the Cathedral. The fire got so bad that I fucking choked to death in it. I DIED, DUDE! Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"..."

"Please! God. Get me outa here. I'm done. I'm just done and I don't- I can't log out..."

The revelation from his friend made Buzzkill well up with emotion. He inhaled and covered his nose as it began to run. His whole body began to shake.

"I'll try."

* * *

"Fuckin' mushy cracker shit!?"

"Um," Potatoe walked up to Help and immediately get her attention, "loo-"

"Do I fucking look like I want to be interrupted?"

He pointed towards the shivering body of Buzzkill that had receded into a corner.

"Fuck. Excuse me." Help waved off Ambassador Vlad, whose face was still a little smoky, and immediately walked over to Buzzkill.

"What's up with him?" asked Ambassador Vlad quietly to Potatoe.

"I don't know, it sounded like he was talking to himself and then he started crying suddenly." Potatoe shrugged, "I didn't really pay attention to what it was and then he walked away. I was going to ask him what was up, but I know that Help knew him better. They migrated servers pretty much around the same time."

* * *

"Yo," Help tapped Buzzkill on the shoulder. Strings from her headdress dangled over him occasionally blocking light from the morning sun.

By now his eyes were filled with tears.

"What happened?"

The words stumbled out of his mouth, "My brother, he- he's still in the city. An-nd there are prob-bly a hundred others in the Cathedral with him." he gulped, "They're there because they all- died."

"The fuck, how the hell do you know this!?"

"Telepathy works. We talked."

* * *

Potatoe brought the ship to a complete stop just before reaching the docks. He didn't dare get any closer at first. They didn't have a single plan to work with.

There wasn't any fire near the docks because they were constructed entirely from steel. Large poles held them in place and hollow air-tight drums kept them afloat.

Help watched carefully at the players standing on the docks. They were waving their hands to the three of them to hurry it up. They looked terrified. And Help didn't trust people she didn't know, especially when they were panicking.

The Von Vampire duo was with them as well, on their own ship {Bracket Beauty}. They were still slightly on fire, but Brackbeard had downed a potion that reset his health, so he now had slightly more than Ambassador Vlad.

The five of them looked between each other without a clue as to what to do.

"Right, I'll try something," said Ambassador Vlad.

He leapt off of his yacht and onto the other ship. Then he stepped up to the bow of the ship while holding his twisted guitar in his right hand. Smoke began to form a little around his head, but he didn't let that stop him.

He keyed up his {Bard} ability {Booming Sound} to increase the volume of his voice and shouted to the people near the docks.

"{SWEETWATER} CITIZENS! WE NEED YOUR HELP! THERE ARE PEOPLE STILL TRAPPED IN THE CITY AS IT BURNS!" The crowd began to quiet down to listen to him.

"WE ARE RETURNING TO HELP PUT OUT THE FIRE AND RESCUE THE PEOPLE IN THE CITY. WE NEED YOUR HELP. YOUR FRIENDS NEED YOUR HELP! ASSIST US AND WE MIGHT SAVE OUR CITY!"

Potatoe shouted, "Here we go!" and brought the ship to dock. Brackbeard followed and docked behind the others.

As they pulled in to the docks, they officially entered into the borders of {Sweetwater}. This queued up a rough mini-map of the city in their status menus.

"Thank god, at least we're not going into this completely blind," thought Potatoe and then he began to wonder how the heck he could actually help in putting out the fires.

Help and Ambassador Vlad stepped onto the docks, only to be besieged by players trying to push their ways onto the ships. But the privacy setting on both of them were set to "invite only."

This setting prevented players from boarding the ships without permission in {No Combat Zones}. Outside of them was another matter altogether. About half a dozen players fell into the water below.

Help lost it, "NOBODY'S LEAVING SO YOU ALL BETTER CALM YO TITS! Now back the fuck up and I'll tell you how this is gonna work."

Potatoe and Buzzkill stepped off of the ship and onto the dock as well. Potatoe looked back at the ship. The sight of the ship's nameplate gave him feeling of slight relief.

It read: {Paraphernalia}.


	6. Chapter 2: The Sweet Disasters, Part 1

**Name:** Brackbeard  
**Race:** Human  
**Gender:** Male  
**Height:** 184 cm

**Class:** Pirate  
**Level:** 90  
**Subclass:** Vampire  
**Level:** 90  
**HP:** 12882  
**MP:** 5886

**Affiliation:** Von Vampire  
**Base of Operations:** Sweetwater (Miami, Florida), South/Central American Server; Bracket Beauty (Ship)

**Notable Equipment:**  
Item 1: **{Bloody Bullet}**  
A phantasmal-class blunderbuss, it can only be wielded by players of the Pirate Class. It is said to echo with the words of its original master.  
Item 2: **{Corsair's Tricorne}**  
This hat grants the wearer the ability to captain a ship without needing the {Sailor} subclass, but none of the other abilities associated with the subclass.  
Item 3: **{Regal Vest}**  
A high costing production item that boosts HP, the cost to produce it is greater than it actual worth compared against other similar items, so few players wear it.

* * *

They could die. They would suffer and die. But later they would awaken in the {Cathedral}.

The city had become a pyre in the late morning hours. Now they could see the fire was consuming the buildings surrounding what was the marketplace. They could see this from the billowing black smoke that reached up to the clouds.

Was there any going back?

Was there any hope that the city would be standing after the fire?

Will the {Cathedral} burn down?

Emotions stewed in the crowd as Ambassador Vlad spoke to them. Openly pointing out to them his fears about what has happened to them all and that they should act. He stood on the dock with Help to his left and Brackbeard to his right. There were at least fifty players in the crowd before them around the docks and dockage. They were giving them the entire length of the dock because Help had demanded it.

The players that had fallen into the water had gotten beck up and a few of them were seriously put out, especially the two {Werecats} that fell in.

Ambassador Vlad continued, "... Despite all this we need to focus on one thing right now! We need to get to the {Cathedral} and keep it from burning down. As of right now, it is on fire."

There was some commotion at hearing this. Some looked at their minimaps, others began talking in hushed voices of near-disbelief, and one spoke up.

She stepped forward and turned to the crowd letting her braided hair flow behind her. Her eyes were covered by a blindfold, but she didn't seem to have any difficulty slipping her slender body around the other players.

"We don't have time to do a complex plan! We have to get on with it!" She unsheathed her dagger and held it up in the air. "{Guardians} lead the way. {Summoners} follow close behind them and prepare water summons and. Go quickly to the {Cathedral}!"

For a moment, no one moved.

Ambassador Vlad recast his ability {Booming Sound} and yelled, "YOU HEARD HER! MOVE!"

The crowd immediately erupted into roars and began running into the burning city. There was some chaos with how they began by bumping into each other and running like a wild flash mob, but they sorted out as they made their approach.

* * *

The scene was filled with smoke, soot, and screaming. The air choked and blocked the vision of the {Adventurers}. But the crowd of would-be-rescuers advanced towards the {Cathedral} with earnest. They travelled forward with a speed that only anguish can grant and with an apprehension that only fear of death and pain can only inspire - like some awkwardly slow stampede.

Wisps of smoke curled around the crowd as the first group pushed through the streets. They had organized a forward formation of their group's eight {Guardians} and four {Summoners} to create some sense of protection for the rest of the players. The {Summoners} had called forth a combination of water and wind spirits to clear the path of the smoke and flame, while the {Guardians} stood out in the front to safeguard the lives of the few {Summoners} among their ranks.

The second wave that eventually formed by Help's quick thinking consisted of the {Bards}, {Monks}, {Pirates}, and {Druids}. The third and last group contained the rest of the crowd with the exception of the {Assassins}. The four {Assassins} in the crowd - not including Buzzkill - were sent in front the group to ensure that their path was clear enough to traverse. Their speed enabled them to move with great swiftness, but they were instructed to return to the rear group whenever they received any debuff that they felt would endanger their lives.

Help held Buzzkill's arm in the last group as they marched forward. He struggled at first, but when he finally saw through her profanity he realized that she was trying to keep him safe. She didn't trust him to be anything but a Leeroy Jenkins, but fortunately he hadn't quite figured that out.

In the middle group, Potatoe found himself running next to a peculiar female {Druid}. She wore a green blindfold, but seemed to be completely aware of her surroundings. As he looked at her, she turned to him and smiled. Her nameplate revealed that her username was Solana and that she was the Captain of the guild {Los Apóstatas Legales}.

She began to speak to him, but there was a noticeable second delay between when her lips moved and the sound of her voice. It was a gentle voice, but it also didn't match the movement of her mouth.

"We're almost there." she said, "Are you ready for this? Cause I'm not! Haha!"

The {Cathedral} appeared at first like most of the other buildings nearby. Like columns of walls that reach just high enough to disappear into the low hanging smoke clouds. The visual effect transformed the streets into small claustrophobic hallways.

They reached the {Cathedral} at its Southeastern corner, just yards from its main entrance. The {Summoners} from the first group immediately began a cooperative spell for the summon {Legendary Antlantean Water Golem} and by the time the second group with Potatoe arrived a large aqueous orb could be seen floating up by the ceiling of smoke. It began to slowly expand and form into a fearsome bulbous squid-like shape.

Its tentacles wrapped around the {Cathedral} in the darkened sky well beyond the sight of the {Adventurers} below. The summoned monstrosity groaned and bellowed a soul-sinking sound that shook the ground. More screams could be heard from inside and from the surrounding buildings as the third group finally merged into the crowd that had formed in the street.

Then there was an audible grinding of wood against metal and shattered glass fell on the crowd. Potatoe looked up to see the towering building just to their North surreally bend over towards them. The sight paralyzed him for half a second. Then he tried to grab at Solana's hand and to pull her around the corner, but she wasn't there. Most everyone had already begun running in all directions.

The {Summoners} scattered, losing control of their summoned creature and accidentally letting it temporarily become hostile.

The terrible realization clicked instantly, he had been the slowest person to look up and react. He knew that even though it looked like it was falling only slowly towards him - it was only his adrenaline coursing through his body. His option to run was gone; his mind raced and concluded that there was no chance he'd survive in an escape attempt. The falling tower was blocking what little light actually made it through the fog of smoke. So he chose to stand and take the impact head on.

Potatoe changed his stance and swiftly tapped his paws together activating the sigils on his fingers. The tower was now just centimeters away from impact. Potatoe could feel the wind pushing on his whiskers, from the air that was being displaced by falling debris. Instinctively he activated a chained skill unique to the {Monk} Class called {Rapid Strike} and began patting the now mostly horizontal wall at a blinding speed.

It seemed in his mind that the tower began to slow down, but it didn't stop. It soon got so close to his head that he began to bend backwards while he continued to repeatedly pat his palms on the falling tower. In real time it took just a few seconds for Potatoe to fall on his back while the tower came down on him completely flat, but in an oddly gently fashion.

Ambassador Vlad had turned his head back as fallen tower made an almost soundless impact with the ground. He was one of the few who fled in the direction of the {Cathedral} and now could see that the fallen part of the tower now wholly blocked he path to retreat. He looked forward to see the legendary water golem begin to bubble from having turned hostile. It flung one of its great tentacles towards the half dozen {Guardians} that no longer stood in any formation.

In mid-fling slivers of light appeared above the street and seemed to explode into suits of armor. There were four of them. Each had a nameplate identifying them as {Royal Guards}.

"Finally!" shouted Vlad, only to be sorely disappointed.

The four {Royal Guards} split from their formation to avoid the strike from the water golem. They each immediately turned to the {Summoners} and separately slew them before disappearing in the same manner and immediacy as they appeared.


End file.
